William Haines Lytle

William Haines Lytle (2 November 1826-20 September 1863) was a Brigadier-General of the US Army during the American Civil War and a celebrated poet who commanded the 10th Ohio Infantry until his death at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Biography
William Haines Lytle was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1826 to a prominent local family, and he worked as a lawyer before volunteering in the US Army during the Mexican-American War. After the war, he was elected to the state legislature as a Democratic Party member, and he unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant-Governor in 1857; that same year, he wrote "Antony and Cleopatra", a poem that was beloved by both northerners and southerners. In 1860, he unsuccessfully ran for the US House of Representatives, and he campaigned for Stephen A. Douglas during the 1860 presidential election. In 1861, he became colonel of the 10th Ohio Infantry at the start of the American Civil War, and he was wounded in the left leg at Carnifex Ferry in Virginia. He later became a brigade commander in Ormsby M. Mitchel's division, taking part in the operations against the Memphis and Chattanooga Railroad in Tennessee. In October 1862, he was wounded and captured at Perryville, but he was soon exchanged and promoted to Brigadier-General on 29 November 1862. Lytle was mortally wounded by a Confederate sharpshooter at the Battle of Chickamauga while leading a counterattack on horseback, and respectful Confederates placed a guard around his body and recited his poetry; when he was buried in Cincinnati, so many people lined the streets that his procession did not reach the Spring Grove Cemetery until dusk.